NONPROFIT: Metro Denver Talks, The Denver Foundation Listens

Column by David Miller

By David Miller

Posted
10/10/11

As a community foundation, it has been the job of The Denver
Foundation since 1925 to take the pulse of the community and to
make sure we are most effectively using the charitable resources
contributed by generous donors over multiple generations.

To determine the community's concerns, the foundation regularly
conducts outreach through listening campaigns. This week, we
released the results of our most recent Listening Campaign,
which asked nearly 800 residents of Metro Denver what they envision
for the community's future. I'm pleased to share highlights of the
results with you.

First, in sharp contrast to the tenor of the contentious
national dialogue, the Listening Campaign discovered that a widely
diverse range of Metro Denver residents share a generally unified
vision for the future, and an understanding of the challenges that
the community faces.

The Future We Envision

Our focus groups, interviews and surveys reached Metro Denver
residents from a wide range of geographic areas, across the
spectrums of income, racial and ethnic groups, ages, abilities and
political backgrounds.

Among the elements of their shared vision for the community's
future:

An educational system that produces high achievement regardless
of income, race, geography, ability or gender.

Human services that meet basic needs so that all Denver
residents can experience the community's richness.

A diverse economy comprised of large and small businesses that
provide abundant employment opportunities.

Affordable housing development that is sensitive to new and
existing residents and that promotes diverse communities.

As they shared similar visions of the community, respondents'
comments about community challenges focused on three areas of
need:

Education
Forty-four percent of survey respondents most commonly identified
"lack of high-quality K-12 public education" as the key barrier to
a high quality of life for all metro residents. Among the
challenges they identified in this area are disparities in access
to high-quality education, based on income and race/ethnicity, and
high drop-out rates among many populations.

Basic Needs
A large proportion of Listening Campaign respondents noted that
many Metro Denver residents have difficulty meeting basic human
needs. Respondents noted a number of barriers to a high quality of
life in this area, including access to healthcare (identified as a
key barrier by 36.3 percent of respondents), lack of affordable
housing (34.5 percent) and hunger (16.6 percent).

Economic Opportunity
Not surprisingly, in today's economic climate, respondents also
identified lack of economic opportunity and employment as an
essential barrier to a high quality of life. Fully a third of
respondents noted that lack of high-quality jobs is an area of deep
concern. Challenges related to economic opportunity in Metro Denver
include the growing financial gaps between rich and poor and the
need to attract more new industries and large companies to relocate
in Denver. At the same time, respondents identified the
entrepreneurial spirit of our region as a huge strength, as
evidenced by the number of thriving small and medium-sized
businesses in the Metro area.

Other key areas of concern

Community members also identified several other related areas of
concern. In fact, respondents often noted that these elements and
those above are deeply intertwined; one cannot be solved without
looking at the others.

Need for a more robust mass transit system.

Challenges to family stability.

Difficulties related to incorporating new immigrants into the
community.

Patterns of gentrification and segregation by income and race
in Metro Denver neighborhoods.

How Philanthropy Can Make a Difference

The survey asked members of the community to consider how the
philanthropic sector -- foundations, nonprofit organizations,
corporations, and individual donors -- could best take action to
help meet community needs. Among the suggestions:

Help to fill gaps in basic needs and human services

Identify community issues and provide funding as possible to
address those issues

Advocate for community needs and particular population
segments

Act as conveners of different community groups to encourage
collaboration

Take risks to support innovative solutions to community
problems

We hear the community clearly asking for action in the areas of
education, economic opportunity, and meeting basic human needs. Of
course, many leaders in all sectors are working on these issues.
Our Board is now looking at where The Denver Foundation and our
resources can be of most assistance, and we are continuing our
conversations with the community on how best to do this.

I invite you to view the full report and your share reflections
at http://denverfoundation.org/listening.
We've been listening to the community since 1925, and your voice,
along with the voices of other community members, is important to
thefuture of Metro Denver.